Scariff sow seeds for victory in opening half

Scariff 1-12
Whitegate 0-10

A MORE experienced and physically stronger Scariff outfit defeated neighbours, Whitegate at Cusack Park on Saturday evening. The result consigns Whitegate to the relegation play-off, while Scariff will go on to play for the senior B trophy.
The winners laid the foundations for this win in the opening half, which they dominated to build up a 10-point interval lead.
With Diarmuid Nash directing operations from centre-back and Conor McNamara and Shane Corry controlling the midfield exchanges, the Scariff forwards were given a plentiful supply of ball. McNamara pointed in the first minute to give them a lead they would hold to the end but they had to wait until the eighth minute for their next point, which came from the hard-working Alphie Rodgers.
They had a great goal chance in the fifth minute but Mark Mulvihill somehow missed the target with a goal at his mercy. However, he scored the game’s only goal at the end of the opening quarter when he cut in from the left and shot low past Andrew Fahy in the Whitegate goal. This score brought the winner’s total to 1-4 as Ross Horan had struck a brace of points prior to the goal.
Whitegate’s opening score came in the 12th minute when Tomás McNamara pointed. Points from Rodgers and Barry Murphy (2) stretched the winners lead to nine points before John O’Brien had Whitegate’s second score.
A few minutes later, the corner-forward picked up an injury, which led to his retirement before the break, when he was tackled heavily as he headed for goal. Conor McNamara picked up a yellow card for the tackle, which resulted in a Whitegate penalty. Goalkeeper Andrew Fahy came up field to take the free but Scariff goalie Shane Mulvihill saved well.
The second half started similar to the first with Conor McNamara again getting the opening score, this time from a 70m free. Whitegate, however, dominated the early exchanges and four unanswered points before the eighth minute suggested they might make things difficult for their neighbours. However, they failed to maintain this early scoring rate as the Scariff defence got on top and each side added just two points each in the next 14 minutes. Whitegate finished the game strongly with three unanswered points but Scariff were deserving winners on the day. Diarmuid Nash, Conor McNamara, Alphie Rodgers and Shane Mulvihill were prominent for the winners while John and Brendan Bugler, John Minogue and Tomás McNamara did well for Whitegate who finished with 14 after Shane O’Rourke was dismissed on a straight red card with five minutes remaining.

Scariff: Shane Mulvihill; Barry McNamara, Darragh Kelly, Jim Minogue; Patrick Minogue, Diarmuid Nash, Pádraig Brody; Shane Corry, Conor McNamara; Ross Horan, Kenny McNamara, Alphie Rodgers; Barry Murphy, Michael Moroney, Mark Mulvihill.
Subs: Matthew Horan for Corry (56 minutes); Alan Corbett for Murphy (60 minutes).
Scorers: Mark Mulvihill (1-0); Ross Horan (0-3); Conor McNamara (1f); Barry Murphy, Alphie Rodgers (0-2 each); Diarmuid Nash (1f), Kenny McNamara, Michael Moroney (0-1 each).
Frees for: 12; wides: 7.
Bookings: Conor McNamara (16 minutes).
“Regrets come into it now as we started the campaign very poorly. We only got into it as the campaign progressed and it’s such a pity that Whitegate and ourselves were fighting for last spot. We were hoping at the start that we would both be fighting for the top spot. They came back strongly in the second half. They are a senior team. We will have a cut at the senior B and see how it goes,” Mike McNamara, Scariff manager.

Whitegate: Andrew Fahy; Cathal Mulvihill, John Bugler, John Minogue; Jason Malone, Brendan Bugler, Patrick Minogue; Ian Fahy, Tomas McNamara; Michael O’Brien, Raymond Cahill, Shane O’Rourke; John O’Brien, George Waterstone, Owen Quirke.
Subs: Patrick Burke for J O’Brien (inj 25 minutes).
Scorers; Andrew Fahy, George Waterstone (0-2, all frees); Brendan Bugler, Ian Fahy, Tomás McNamara, John O’Brien, Owen Quirke, Patrick Burke (0-1 each).
Frees for; 11; wides: 9.
Bookings: Michael O’Brien (40 minutes), Raymond Cahill (45 minutes).
Sent off: Shane O’Rourke (55 minutes).
“Scariff got the best start and Whitegate needed a good start and they didn’t get it. It was very tense early on. It was similar to the Cratloe match in that we left ourselves with too much to do and were chasing the game. We played well enough in the second half but that won’t do at championship time. There is a different type of battle ahead now, one you don’t want to be in but we have to face it and take the challenge on,” Mark McKenna, Whitegate coach.
Referee: Rory Hickey, Éire Óg.